Time flies. It's 5 years today since I released Savage Pilgrims. It's my favourite of all my albums - my attempt at americana but setting it firmly within my own experiences and roots.
The album got a great reception, Americana UK said it was my best yet and gave it 9/10. Northern Sky magazine said it was "a rare example of Anglo/American sensibilities merging like honey" - which was exactly what I was shooting for.
To celebrate 5 years I thought I would upload the demos I made during the pre-production phase of that album. 'Savage Demos' includes 9 of the songs from Savage Pilgrims along with 5 unreleased songs that never made the final cut.
A couple of these songs (Save your Pity and Exile of DH Lawrence) are quite different from the versions that ended up on the album, whilst others already feel fully formed and arranged.
The demos were recorded in Wales in 2016, with Mike Harries. That was my year as 'Songwriter-in-residence' at The People's History Museum so I was recording The Battle For the Ballot album. But niggling away at the back of my head were these other songs, starting to feel like they might be an album.
They're only on Bandcamp but you can download for free or just stream them there.